Entropic measure to determine reconfiguration using integrated system design

A manufacturing system is usually designed to deal with a certain set of products and demands. Once these conditions change a system might have to change in a number of ways, such as adding or decreasing capacity and adding new processes. Changes may also be required in terms of system reconfiguration by rearrangement of machines, tools and material handling equipment. These changes that need to be made are not so transparent owing to the uncertainty in product demands and design changes and the complexity of the "information" present within a manufacturing system. This paper presents an entropic measure to indicate the changes that ought to be made at the system, cell or machine level of a manufacturing system. The entropic measure developed takes into consideration the probability of product demands and serves as a global indicator for possible reconfiguration. We also discuss briefly an integrated frame work for the design of manufacturing systems based on the genetic recombination technique which provides an integrated environment to explore the changes of product designs and demands on the entire manufacturing system.